If anyone was going to follow in my footsteps I
would recommend the following:

Get your head examined.

Use aircraft quality epoxy resin dispensed via a
metered pump from the start.

Do not use 2 part liquid foam to fill voids in the
Styrofoam.Use micro-spheres mixed
with epoxy.2 part liquid foam
will continue to expand even 15 years after “curing”.Perhaps the liquid foam could be used to glue the foams
pieces together.Any significant
amounts however would need to be replaced with the micro-sphere filler.

It would be very desirable to somehow have
certain layers of glass have an epoxy colorant so to control the thickness of
the fiberglass that remains.As it
stands, there may be areas on my car that may have only two layers of glass – I
can’t tell.

Fiberglass is not 100% stable over time like
metal.Glass itself is considered
to be a very thick liquid (old window panes are thicker at the bottom than at
the top).Consequently under
continuous load there may be permanent set.In areas of high stress, steel reinforcement may be
required.Over time the hood lift
springs caused my hood to flair out.Subsequent steel reinforcement has thus far proved effective.When exposed to heat, steel expands
about at the same rate as fiberglass so this should be OK.

Fiberglass is known to have print through (also
known as read through or telegraphing).This is when you can see faint images of the fiberglass weave through
the paint.This is more noticeable
on a hot day (where the panels could get up to 140°).It also appears to happen due to the exposure of the
chemicals in paint.One
technique industry uses to reduce this is to have the outside surface sprayed
with at least 0.020 thick layer of Gel Coat.This material however has very little tensile strength and
stress cracks due to deflection may occur.

Prime the car with PPG epoxy primer followed
immediately with K38 high build primer.The K38 has superb chemical resistant properties.Be sure to clean you gun promptly as
you will have a heck of a time removing the cured K38 primer.

The PPG base coat paint appears to be sensitive
to coating thickness.It appears
the base coat has very powerful solvents that can lift the paint below it and
in some cases lift the basecoat itself.Have good ventilation and wait as long as possible between coats and
certainly as long as possible before clear coating.PPG offers a hardener for the base coat that might eliminate
this problem

Put thin layers of clear coat on.I noticed heavy coats caused what
almost looked like solvent popping.In some areas there are extremely small bubbles in the clear.These can be wet sanded away but it is
best to avoid them.Do two thin
coats versus one heavy.

Get to know
someone who has a paint booth that you can use.It will save you a fortune.

Don’t believe
salesmen.Get to know folks
that have a bit of experience in doing what you are thinking about.Learn from their mistakes – it is
cheaper.

Don’t have a
tight schedule.These projects
take way longer than you can imagine.

Pick a design
that you believe is timeless – one that you think is cool and will remain cool
even after working on it for 23 years.You wouldn’t want to think your project is ugly after
spending 7000 hours on it.